Twisted

After finally getting noticed by someone other than school bullies and his ever-angry father, seventeen-year-old Tyler enjoys his tough new reputation and the attentions of a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he must choose between transforming himself or giving in to his destructive thoughts.

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While many girls would also enjoy this book, it is a great choice for teen boys. The main character copes with his past decisions to commit vandalism while also striving to successfully complete his many AP courses. Many readers will relate to the tension between the protagonist and his parents.

FindingJane
Feb 14, 2016

Tyler Miller is your average kid. He was nerdish, dweeby, invisible. Then he commits an act of vandalism. Suddenly he gets all the attention he ever wanted—just not the good kind.

This is a different type of teenaged protagonist. Tyler’s known as the bad kid but he doesn’t want to be. He suddenly gets bigger and stronger than the other kids around him, including the boy who used to bully him. But it doesn’t make him happy or respected. He’s got the attention of the hottest girl in the school but he doesn’t know if he’s actually her boyfriend or not.

Tyler’s not all that great in school. He plays video games too much and he has a father who is always on his case and ranks as borderline abusive, even if he never lays a finger on the wife or kids. As such, this character is imminently approachable. You find yourself nodding along with most of the dialogue and wincing at all-too-familiar scenarios. You wonder why Tyler’s oblivious to the fact that his would-be girlfriend doesn’t really care for him or that it’d be better for him to pay attention to his classes instead of only seeing them as bastions of boredom, despair and sadism. At the same time, most readers will vividly recall when high school presented the same onus to when they were younger.

It’s a very credible trip through the hell that is high school (with a sly metaphor thrown in using his video game Tophet) and the additional purgatories of home life and dating. Here is an assured voice dealing with the rite of passage so many Americans had to go through, written so much like the voice of a 17-going-on-18-year-old adolescent that it reads almost like a diary.

Teenagers and adults alike will find this book a searing, fresh look at high school written by a very talented author.

Tyler narrates this story with sarcastic humor that at first disguises his extreme sadness. The novel begins after he has committed what he humorously refers to as the “Foul Deed.” Because of the “Foul Deed” everyone assumes the absolute worst of him: the police, his parents, and his school. The only positive things in Tyler’s life are his relationships with his sister Hannah and friend Yoda. There’s a lot of bleakness in this book as Tyler’s life spirals out of control, but Tyler’s narration makes this a very engaging book.

Beginning's a bit slow, but then it gets AMAZING. Finnished it in one day, and wow, I was totally taken back. Was NOT expecting what I read. Wow. Cried several times too... (maybe it was just the music in the background ;)
Highly recommend it, it's amazing.

This was my first Laurie H. Anderson book and I liked it. I just didn't like the ending and i LOVED the description. After reading this book, i have read Speak,another great book by her, and liked it a lot. i am now planing to read Chains or Prom.